Harsh Duty
by MoonlightSonata13
Summary: After Locke is killed in the jungle, everything on the island begins to fall apart, resulting in several main character deaths and a mean plot for revenge by the most innocent one of them all.
1. The Death of a Hunter

Locke wandered into the woods, longing to finally meet the "monster" who was spreading the shadow of fear over all the inhabitants of the island every time it was mentioned. He crept into the highest tree, slid into the lowest ditches, and thought of nothing but the monster. If the beast could sense his presence and sense the fact that it was being thought about, maybe it would track the source of this energy and find John Locke, who hoped desperately to catch another glimpse of this creature and come closer to discovering just what exactly it is.

Just when he decided it was about time to leave, he heard a roar in the jungle and turned around. Before he could make another move, a black fog emerged and wrapped itself all around his body. He thought it was beautiful, and wanted nothing more than to lie embraced this way with it forever—that was until it killed him.

"What do you think has happened here?" Jack asked Kate. "Locke has been gone for so long, I thought he went out to find a boar." Kate shrugged worriedly. "I hope that the boar didn't attack him. Or a polar bear." Jack and Kate exchanged knowing looks, and both shared the same thought at the same time: "What if…" A roar was heard from the forest, and Kate and Jack quickly turned their heads towards whatever made the noise. Unfortunately, they both knew exactly what had happened. This was not the first time Locke mysteriously had decided to come face-to-face with the monster for some unbeknownst reason.

And now, his very odd need had been realized. And it had backfired. John Locke, possibly the most important person on the island who knew the most of what was going on, was dead because of one stupid little wish and thrill. Now, they would all have to make do by themselves to figure out exactly what had happened.

And what exactly _did_ happen?


	2. The Starting of a Harsh Duty

Claire looked on as the others were all discussing Locke's death. She didn't know why he would go into the woods—he must have known what he was doing. There was no way he could have missed the sound of the monster. This wasn't the first time she had had a brush with the harsh claws of death… however, it was the first time a death around her had been indirectly linked to her since her parents.

When Claire was a little girl, she dealt with a lot. Her parents did get along, and she was rich. But she wasn't very happy. Their money always came first. They threatened to disown her no matter how little her tiniest mistake would be, although they were barely ever around to correct her. She did not have a happy childhood. And then, one day, a man named Kristoff Carlyle came and murdered her father in cold blood. She was the only one who saw him—he was standing on top of a building, and he had lifted a large rifle towards the window and pulled the trigger. The next thing she knew, her father was dead on the ground and this Carlyle man was leaving. But not before she saw the sign on his back—that of a Swan in the middle of a small octagon pattern.

She didn't know what this meant, or what effect it would have on her and her family. She especially didn't know that it would catch her in a web of deception, seduction, and—

"Claire!" Claire turned and faced Charlie, walking towards her with a guitar. She smiled and stood up, lifting Aaron up with her. "Hey, Charlie. Did you hear what happened?" Charlie smiled, ignorant of the proceeding death. "No, fill me in." He sat on the ground and began to play a soft tune on the guitar.

"Well, Locke walked into the woods to boar-hunt and now he's dead. They found his body. The monster got to him." Charlie stopped playing and slowly looked up at Claire. She lowered her eyes, not knowing of what to say. She sat in front of him.

"Bloody terrible, isn't it?" he asked. Claire nodded slowly.

Terrible indeed.


End file.
